CLAREMONT — With only a few questions and one minor change, the Planning Board unanimously approved the site plan for a 28,700-square-foot Toyota dealership on Charlestown Road.
McGee Toyota plans to build the new facility at 168 Charlestown Road — less than a half-mile south of its current location — on a vacant parcel between a Subaru dealership and T-Bird Mini Mart and gas station.
Austin Turner, of Bohler Engineering in Southborough, Mass., presented the plans at Monday’s Planning Board meeting.
Turner walked the board through the design of the building, which will be home to a showroom and auto service, and explained the site work needed, including ledge removal, lighting, stormwater collection and landscaping. The lot will have about 220 lined parking spaces in the front and side, with room for an additional 150 vehicles in the rear for service. There will be two entrances from Charlestown Road and a loop driveway around the building, making it easier for deliveries and emergency vehicles.
The only point of slight disagreement with the board was a proposed driveway between the dealership and T-Bird gas station. Turner said McGee will have a contract to buy gas for its vehicles from T-Bird and the driveway would eliminate the need for vehicles to use Charlestown Road when fueling up.
Board member Bruce Kolenda called the driveway a “bad idea” because it would be located near the diesel pumps used by large trucks. He also worried that T-Bird customers would use the driveway to exit onto Charlestown Road.
“I see accidents happening,” Kolenda said. “I think it is an issue.”
But the concern was quickly resolved when board member Dave Putnam suggested the angle of the driveway be turned so that it points away from Charlestown Road and more toward the convenience store. The suggestion, which is meant to discourage drivers in the gas station from using the driveway, was accepted by the rest of the board.
Last August, the Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a variance sought by McGee on the 28-acre parcel because most of the property is in the rural residential zone, where commercial enterprises are prohibited.
After the meeting, Turner said McGee Toyota is in the process of obtaining all state permits and the expectation is the dealership will be break ground later this spring and have the building enclosed before winter.
McGee, which currently owns about 3 acres at its 114 Charlestown Road dealership, bought the property for the new facility last summer and plans to use only about 9 acres.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
